Crimea was annexed by Ukraine in 1991: Naryshkin

(QHA) -

The Crimean Peninsula was annexed by Ukraine 23 years back as overwhelming majority of population resisted such step at the 1991 regional referendum, State Duma chairman Sergey Naryshkin said in a parliamentary speech.

Sergey Naryshkin reaffirmed that recent move to accept Crimea’s plea to enter the Russian Federation justified, saying that the region had been annexed by Ukraine after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

“In essence, this is when the annexation took place – 23 years ago. It was a peaceful annexation, but this is what it was,” Naryshkin told MPs.

He noted that such developments were possible due to irresponsibility of certain Russian politicians, but did not expand on the subject.

Crimean peninsula was annexed by Russia in March, following Crimean referendum that was not recognized neither by Kyiv authorities nor the U.S. and UN countries.